casting pearls before swine...

H1N1 has hit our school! at least one teacher and a few students had the virus this past week. pray that it doesn't become an epidemic in our school! people are in very close quarters here...classrooms are small and stuffy, most students live in dorms, so germs can spread rather quickly. however, they are taking all necessary precautions - quarantine for three days for the infected and we have a newly installed automatic hand sanitizing machine. woot.

really, though, we'll be fine.

hello there, friends. i wish i could sit down and talk to you face to face. what is going on in your life? somedays i feel really far away from home, but, as my mom says, "hearing" your words on this blog makes you feel closer. wish you were here!

word on the apartment: i should move in on the 26th. yes, that means i will be in this dorm room over two weeks total. it really isn't so bad, i just want to get out of my suitcases. here's where i have been:

the lovely green bathroom                                                             

not quite emerson... :) but it does have a/c

(dad! there's your cinnamony suitcase!)

the end of this week was...interesting, yet very good! always surprising, and usually rewarding.

wth moment #1: five minutes into fifth period on monday, Mrs. Ko (our vice principal) told me i was supposed to be teaching a class. so i was thrust into yet another class spur the moment, this time teaching PUBLIC SPEAKING to a bunch of eighth graders (again, what is it with the subjects i know nothing about?). despite picking up the book and reading it as i taught, it was actually quite an enjoyable class. one girl, esther, i had met the night before and learned that she lived in tacoma the last four years, so having her in my class was fun (plus, she speaks fluent english and korean so she'll be very helpful to the other students and to me when they don't understand!)

humorous moment #4: on thursday, a minute or so after starting my geography class, Mrs. Ko walks in with a girl about my age and tells me there is a student teacher in my class. precisely one week minus one day after i start teaching, i now have someone sitting in my class who is supposed to be learning how to teach. you've got to be kidding me.

blessing point #1 (this is funny because we give "tallies" for bad behavior and "blessing points" for good behavior): after class, the student teacher came up to talk to me and had really good things to say about what she saw. i couldn't even believe it. i almost wish she would've told me what i did wrong (cuz i know there are many things i have to work on), but she gave me really positive feedback. she especially liked that i smile at my students while i'm teaching. i didn't even realize i did that. she was shocked when she learned that i am only a couple of years older than her and had only been teaching a week (she told me she thought i was a 'professional teacher'. ha)

cruel joke #1: i gave a pop quiz to my geography classes on friday. there are people in every class who haven't been doing their homework, so i wanted to check up on them, keep them awake.

the sched: basically, i teach five classes everyday (out of six total class periods, and i teach six on thursdays). they split up classes by grade, and sometimes the grades are split because there are more students in some grades. so i have three ninth grade geography classes (9-1, 9-2, 9-3), one eleventh grade american government class, one ESL-B (7th grade) world studies class, one eighth grade speech class (once a week), and then my homeroom is 10-1 (so half of the tenth graders). most classes are five times a week, forty-five minutes each. i enjoy the variety.

teaching the same exact thing to three different classes (of geography) has been an interesting experience. i usually learn during my first class what works, solidify it by my second, and have the class completely memorized by the third (i kind of feel bad for that first class, but it kind of evens out because the schedule isn't the same everyday).

teaching bonus #1: all this repetition has its upside. at this point, i can tell you the difference between a bog, a marsh, and a swamp. booyahhhh. i would totally ace my own tests.

friday joy #1: went to korean BBQ where we sat outside and had delicious lettuce. there was other food too, but i loved having fresh veggies. it seems that every time i get veggies, it is cooked and smothered in some nasty sauce.

friday joy #2: went to the "other side" of Bucheon Station - college town central. shopping, night clubs. our stop, however, was for some amazing ice shaving dessert with fruit. not like shave ice, but ice shavings ( i wish i took a picture) that tasted sweet. new favorite.

friday joy #3: i met person #2 who is my age and gender (rare these days, it seems), and we clicked. it was nice to have some "girl time". i got to see her apartment (her parents also work at KICS) and it is so much nicer than the other ones i have seen. i hope mine looks more like hers, but i highly doubt it will. we even watched the disney channel in english and mr. bean was on. talk about a great friday night.

blessing point #2: i took a lot of rest, did a bit of work and grading, watched 'beauty and the beast', and went to dinner for bibimbap and cold noodles with grace (who offered to pay). i told her i needed shampoo from the OK Mart (our local convenience store for urgent needs) and she gave me a bottle that she had at the dorm.

this is getting really long, but this last part is the best part of the adventure so far! so go get a cup of tea, sit back, and breathe in...

i, along with some fellow teachers and administration, went on a hike today! too much time in the city has left me longing for some good air and green...

most of our group, plus random woman in blue.             

yes, i was the only one in the group under forty, but i enjoy all of them.

it was a short hike, but exactly what we all needed on this grey sunday afternoon.

things to note about this hike:

-although people call it a "mountain", it is no more than a glorified hill.

-the trails were packed! koreans, decked out in hiking gear (hiking poles and all) were out and about, young and old.

-we came to three different exercise stations. these sets of equipment are also found in the city, but i found it quite funny that you can hike to a place to work-out (what is the hike for then?). we came to the final stop, including a fresh springwater fountain, weight-lifting, badminton courts, giant hula-hoops, parallel bars and more where a good amount of people were working out.

-we also climbed up a series of stairs to an army base and the top of the climb. the trees blocked our view of the city, though.

-the air. as we came into the gardens which led to the trails, i could feel and taste the difference. crisper, cleaner, absolutely lovely. i think i'm going to make this hike a weekly occurance. there are still more trails to explore!

sunday funnies #1: when we got back to our "neighborhood", we ordered from "Big Mama Pizza" since we thought it would be a good post-hike dinner. the korean koncoction of sweet potato on pizza proved to be a welcomed treat to my taste buds.

i finally exercised my camera! check out more pictures on my facebook!


thanks for staying with me, friends. i give my first test tomorrow. i hope my students won't murder me with any icy glares (but at least they knew about this one!). hope to hear from you soon :)